I was born in a trailer park in Warsaw, IN, while my dad was finishing up seminary at Grace College. We moved to Soldotna when I was 9 months when my dad was called to be youth pastor right here at Peninsula Grace. I started in the nursery, where I was know as "Justin Wailer," and have been making noise here every since!

I came to know Jesus in the back of my parents' station wagon at the bank drive-through, talking with my mom. Growing up in a Jesus-centered home and church, I slowly fell deeper in love with Him. I really made my walk with Him my own through some high school conferences and missions trips, as well as Bible school.

In August 2018, I was introduced to my wife, Jill, through a random guy who met each of us for an hour and said we should meet. We were married in June of 2019, and she moved up here from CA.

I received a Bachelor's Degree of Intercultural and Biblical Studies from New Tribes Mission (now Ethnos 360) in 2007. I also received a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education in 2015 before the Lord led me to be the lead pastor of PGC in 2016.

Fun facts: For a solid decade I wore nothing but inside-out yellow t-shirts, and I visited all 30 major league baseball stadiums over 96 days in the summer of 2014.